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Erin Go Klaus

Updated Nov. 14, 2008 12:01 a.m. ET

How bizarre is EU politics? So much so that the Irish government feels compelled to chide another head of state for agreeing with a majority of the Irish people.

You read that correctly. In a June referendum, the Irish rejected the EU's Lisbon Treaty by 53% to 47% -- essentially putting the pact on ice. The vote enraged many European leaders, who say the treaty is necessary to revamp the institutions of a union that has nearly doubled...